Drill box

ABSTRACT

A drill box includes a transparent housing, and two elongated supporting members, each of which includes a supporting portion having several through locating holes spaced along it. Each of the through locating holes has a lower opening shaped such as to allow a shank of a drill to be tightly inserted therein, and an upper opening bigger than the lower opening. The supporting members are stacked up so that confining space is formed for holding the sharp bodies of drills therein. The supporting members have concavely curved surfaces around each of the lower openings for allowing one end of a shank of a drill to stick out from the lower opening after the shank is inserted into the locating hole. The elongated supporting members are slid into the housing so that the drills held on them are protected.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a drill box, more particularly a drill box, which is compact, and safe and convenient to use.

[0003] 2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Drills are important tools in industry, which are used for making holes on hard objects, such as wood, and metal. Drills are usually made of hardened mental, and consist of a shank, and a body. The shank of a drill is to be secured to a chuck member of a drill press. The body of a drill is formed with sharp twist and a pointed end so that it can be screwed through, and make holes on, hard objects. Drills are held in boxes when they are not used so that people won't touch them to get injured accidentally. Drill sets are easily available in the market, which include drills of various sizes, and are contained in a small box.

[0005] It is important to pay attention to the way and position, in which drills are disposed in a drill box so that the users can pick up drills from the box for use easily and safely. The users are likely to get hurt if they contact the sharp drill bodies when picking up drills from drill boxes.

[0006] Referring to FIGS. 5,and 6, a conventional drill box 2 includes a lower containing part, and a lid 21, which is pivotally connected to the lower containing part by means of hinges 22. Fastening elements 23 are attached to the lower containing part, and the lid 21 so that the lower containing part can be closed with the lid 21 securely joined thereto. A sponge is disposed on the inner side of the lid 21. Holding bases 25 are disposed in the lower containing part, each of which has several spaced sloping holding holes 26 arranged along it. Thus, drills 27 can be inserted into the holding holes 26 at shank portions 29 thereof; main bodies 28 of the drills 27 stick out from the holding bases 25, and will contact the sponge 24 when the box is closed.

[0007] Referring to FIGS. 7, and 8, another conventional drill box 3 includes a transparent plastic front part, and a rear part. The front part is formed with several holding rooms 31 of various sizes for holding various drills, and the rear part is attached to the front part to prevent drills in the rooms 31 from falling off. Thus, drills in the box 3 can be easily seen while they are displayed in the shops.

[0008] Referring to FIGS. 9, and 10, yet another conventional drill box 4 includes two holding bases 41, which are adjustable in position, and each of which has several spaced locating holes 42 for allowing drills to be inserted therein. The holding bases 41 are adjusted in position so that drills held therein can be easily inserted into, and picked up from, the locating holes 42.

[0009] Referring to FIGS. 11, and 12, still another conventional drill container 5 includes a front part, which is formed with several small holding rooms 51, and a bigger holding room 52 respectively for holding drills, and an auxiliary drill box therein. After the drills in the container are unpacked, and used, they can be contained in the auxiliary drill box.

[0010] However, it is found that the above conventional drill boxes have a common disadvantage that they are not relatively compact with certain capacity. In other words, space of the drill box is not used in an ideal way. Consequently, it is not easy for users to carry the drills in their pockets. Furthermore, the drill boxes are not safe to use because fingers of the users have to come into contact with the main bodies of drills, which have sharp blades, when they need to pick up the drills for use. Consequently, the users are likely to get injured.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] It is a main object of the present invention to provide a drill box, which is compact.

[0012] It is another object of the present invention to provide a drill box, which is safe and convenient to use.

[0013] The drill box of the present invention includes a transparent housing, and two elongated supporting members, each of which includes a supporting portion having several through locating holes spaced along it. Each of the through locating holes has a lower opening shaped such that a shank of a drill to can be tightly inserted therein, and has an upper opening bigger than the lower opening. The supporting members are stacked up such that a confining space is formed for holding the sharp bodies of drills therein. The supporting members have concavely curved surfaces around each of the lower openings for allowing the upper end of the shank of a drill to stick out from the lower opening after the shank is inserted into the locating hole. The elongated supporting members are slid into the housing for storing the drills, and slid out for allowing the drills to be picked up for use.

[0014] Drills are separated from the locating holes by means of pushing the shanks at the tops out of the lower openings of the locating holes with fingers; the shanks can easily fall off the locating holes after pushed because the shanks have smaller diameters than all portions of the locating holes except for the lower openings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The present invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0016]FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the drill box according to the present invention,

[0017]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the drill box according to the present invention,

[0018]FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the way of using the drill box according to the present invention,

[0019]FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the way of getting a drill from the drill box according to the present invention,

[0020]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the first conventional drill box,

[0021]FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the first conventional drill box,

[0022]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the second conventional drill box,

[0023]FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the second conventional drill box,

[0024]FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the third conventional drill box,

[0025]FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the third conventional drill box,

[0026]FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the fourth conventional drill box; and,

[0027]FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the fourth conventional drill box.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, a drill box according to the present invention includes a first and a second elongated supporting members 1, and 1, and a transparent housing member 12.

[0029] Each of the supporting members 1, 1 includes a supporting portion, which is formed with several through locating holes 13 equidistantly spaced along it. Each of the supporting members 1, 1 has a confining portion sticking sideways from a lateral side thereof. Each of the supporting members 1, 1 further has walls 11, 11 at front and rear ends thereof, and a holding space defined by the supporting portion, the walls 11, and the confining portion.

[0030] In addition, each of the confining portions of the elongated supporting members 1, 1 has U-shaped confining gaps 17 spaced along it.

[0031] Each of the through locating holes 13 has a lower opening 15, and an upper opening 14. Each of the lower openings 15 is shaped such that a shank of a drill can be tightly inserted therein. The upper openings 14 are slightly bigger than the corresponding lower openings 15. In other words, the upper openings 14 have slightly bigger diameter than the shanks of drills.

[0032] Each of the elongated supporting members 1, 1 has concavely curved surfaces 151 around the lower openings 15 of the through locating holes 13 so that when shanks 29 of drills 27 are inserted into the locating holes 13 with the tops of the shanks 29 being positioned co-planar with a surface of the elongated supporting member 1, the drill shanks 29 can stick out from the lower openings 15 of the locating holes 13.

[0033] The transparent housing member 12 has an opening 18 at a front end, and a hole 19 at a rear end thereof. The front opening 18 is provided for allowing the supporting members 1, 1 to be slid into the housing member 12, while the rear hole 19 is provided for allowing the supporting members 1, 1 to be pushed out of the housing member 12 with fingers.

[0034] Thus, drills 27 can be inserted into the locating holes 13 at the shanks 29 thereof with the bodies 28 thereof being positioned outside the upper openings 14, and with the shanks 29 sticking out beyond the concavely curved surfaces 151 from the lower openings 15 of the locating holes 13; the body 28 of the drill 27 is formed with sharp twists around the annular surface thereof.

[0035] In combination, the first elongated supporting member is disposed along a top of the second elongated supporting member in an inverted position so that the confining portion of the first supporting member is positioned over the holding space of the second supporting member; the sharp drill bodies 28 supported by the first supporting member being contained in the holding space of the second supporting member 1, and passed through the U-shaped confining gaps 17 of the second supporting member. Then, the supporting member combination, in which the first supporting member is positioned over the second one in an inverted position, is tightly inserted into the transparent housing member 12.

[0036] To pick up one of the drills 27, the supporting member combination is slid out of the housing member 12 by means of inserting fingers into the hole 19, and the drill 27 is pressed at the top thereof with fingers to separate from the lower opening 15 of the locating hole 13; the drill 27 can easily fall off the locating hole 13 because the shank 29 has smaller diameter than every portion of the locating hole 13 except for the lower opening 15.

[0037] From the above description, it can be easily understood that the drill box according to the present invention has advantages as followings:

[0038] 1. The drill box is relatively compact because it is structured such that several pairs of side-by-side arranged drills can be positioned along the elongated supporting members 1; thus, the present drill box is easy to carry.

[0039] 2. The transparent housing allows the users to see the drills while the box is closed, and the users can separate the drills from the supporting members 1 readily by means of pushing the shanks 29 of the drills 27 out of the lower openings 15 of the locating holes 13 at the tops of the shanks 29; thus, the drill boxes are relatively safe to use because the users don't have to contact the sharp bodies 28 of the drills to remove the drills from the supporting members 1. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A drill box, comprising a first and a second elongated supporting members; each of the supporting members including a supporting portion, a confining portion sticking sideways from a lateral side of the supporting portion, and a holding space defined by both the supporting portion and the confining portion; each of the supporting portions having a plurality of through locating holes spaced along it; each of the through locating holes having a lower opening shaped such as to allow a shank of a drill to be tightly inserted therein; each of the through locating holes having an upper opening having at least slightly bigger diameter than the lower opening thereof; and, a transparent housing member; the supporting members being inserted into the housing member with the first elongated supporting member being disposed along a top of the second elongated supporting member in an inverted position, and with the confining portion of the first supporting member being positioned over the holding space of the second supporting member so that a body of a drill supported by the first supporting member is confined in the holding space of the second supporting member; each of the elongated supporting members having a concavely curved surface around each of the lower openings of the locating holes for allowing one end of a shank of a drill to stick out from the lower opening after the shank is inserted into the locating hole; the transparent housing member having an opening at a front end for allowing the supporting member combination to be inserted thereinto; the housing member having a hole at a rear end for allowing the supporting member combination to be pushed out of it with fingers.
 2. The drill box as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the elongated supporting members has confining gaps spaced out along the confining portion thereof to face corresponding locating holes of other elongated supporting member so that bodies of drills can be confined in the confining gaps of the second supporting member after shanks of the drills are inserted into the locating holes of the first supporting member.
 3. The drill box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the confining gaps are shaped such that the drill bodies are securely held therein for preventing the drills from moving relative to the supporting members. 